Circumstances
by scorchedtrees
Summary: They always meet under unusual circumstances. Drabbles, Levi/Rico.
1. i

_A/N: I am probably the only person in the whole fandom who actually ships this pretty hard. I've written more than just this drabble for Levi/Rico and I may expand this into a sort of drabble collection if anyone's interested._

* * *

They always meet under unusual circumstances.

This time is no different—in the throngs of people exiting the courtroom, nobody notices that when Captain Levi of the Scouting Legion walks past the squad leader of the Stationary Guard's 1st Division Elite Force, he moves slightly closer to her than necessary, and no one sees the way his hand catches hers for a brief second or the way his mouth hovers next to her ear for a moment to say, "Outside."

The front of the courthouse is teeming with people, some just emerging through the doors and others waiting for news of the trial on the steps, but there is a sharp turn leading to a secluded area behind the back of the building that presses close to the next one over, and she meets him there. He is leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, one foot crossed over the other when he hears her footsteps approach.

"So you and Smith managed to outsmark Dawk," she says by way of greeting, stopping two feet away from him. Her voice is calm, matter-of-fact, betraying nothing of what she must feel after Eren Jaeger's trial.

Levi shrugs indifferently, keeping his eyes trained straight ahead, and out of his peripheral vision he can see her sigh.

"I hope you know what you're doing. You heard what happened, but you weren't there to see him go berserk. He's a fifteen-year-old boy, but he's also a danger to himself and to humanity, and I don't think putting him in the hands of daredevils is a good idea."

"I've got him under control," Levi says, and Rico snorts.

"Of course. Very convincing act you put on there. Brutal, some might say."

He turns to look at her then, eyes flat, mouth a hard line. "Are you actually here to talk about this?"

She joins him against the wall, stretching her arms out before dropping them back to her sides, raising one hand to push her glasses up her nose. She glances at him and after a moment, smiles almost incredulously.

"What?"

"Titan shifters. This changes everything."

He makes no reply; she knows as well as he does why they're here and it is not to discuss military affairs or new developments in the constant fight for humanity. So many things have changed since the first time he saw her, small and pale and severe in her beauty at one of many military galas in Sina, but when they meet they do not talk about these things.

"Well, you and Smith won this round," she says, tapping her fingers against his thigh. He uncrosses his arms to grab her hand, stopping her fingers mid-motion, and does not release it.

"Eren Jaeger is the Scouting Legion's burden and responsibility now. You'd better hope he does well on that upcoming mission outside the walls, or I think—"

"I don't actually," Levi interrupts, "give a fuck about what you think."

She rolls her eyes at him. She is brilliant, he knows, and sometimes he feels the Scouting Legion would have greatly benefited from her presence, but at least she is relatively safer in the Garrison and really, there's no point whatsoever thinking about such things when they're probably all going to die soon anyway—

"I just want you to proceed with caution. You're humanity's strongest soldier"—the title is wry coming from her mouth—"but that boy can turn into a _Titan_ so I really hope you know what you're doing—"

"Oh," he says, his grip tightening on her fingers, drawing her closer so that the space between their bodies disappears, "believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing."

He probably kisses her to shut her up as much as because he wants to, but she lets him anyway, parts her lips and traces her fingers up his face, tugs at his hair. His hands travel slowly down her sides to rest on her waist, the warmth of his palms seeping through her shirt, soaking into her skin, and she pushes him against the wall, pressing against him almost insistently as his mouth moves to her jaw, then her neck, lips rough but teeth somehow gentle on her skin.

After a moment he leans away, takes a deep quiet breath, and she rubs her swollen lips ruefully. "You should get back to your comrades. Check on Eren Jaeger. You didn't damage him permanently, did you?"

He does not deign to answer, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers for an all-too-quick second instead. He does not say anything but he thinks she must understand, because she allows him the brief moment of respite before pulling away.

"I'll see you around," she says, and then she turns and walks away, patting down her pale blond hair and readjusting her glasses as she goes.

He watches her leave and waits a minute before following, returning to the front of the courthouse and making his way up the steps, back to Eren Jaeger and the Scouting Legion and military business and his life. _I'll see you around,_ she said, and he doesn't doubt it.

After all, they always meet under unusual circumstances, and considering recent events, there are plenty of those to come.


	2. ii

He knows her, her sharp tongue and keen mind and dry humor, her small frowns and rare smiles and even rarer laughs, but the look on her face is one he has never seen before—stern yet uncertain, angry yet not, a brittle smile overtaking her features and hardening in her eyes.

"I do hope you and Erwin Smith know exactly what you're getting into," she says, her voice even despite the way he thinks she'd like to slap him—for no good reason, really, but he won't deny that he often deserves as such and though she's usually so rational, even she needs to let out her emotions sometimes.

"I have him under control."

"Of course," she agrees, and now he can hear the note of bitterness that creeps into her tone. "As long as you don't forget that he is a threat to humanity and every bit as liable to harm as he is to help. He will be under the Scouting Legion's protection, but don't be so quick to die for him when he might be your downfall."

He nearly asks her why she feels so strongly about the subject, but then he remembers the carnage he saw at Trost and how he only found the boy and his friends at the last moment; but Rico and her squad and the rest of the Garrison's elite soldiers were with them ever since the operation to plug the breach in the wall began, saw everything since nearly the beginning. And he remembers how Rico was the squad leader of the now one-member 1st Division Elite Force and he understands.

He doesn't say anything, just places one hand on her shoulder in the gesture of one soldier attempting to comfort another, and the expression on her face crumbles. She wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his chest, and as he strokes her hair and tightens his hold around her, some of the tension in her body begins to dissipate. She is brilliant, talented Rico Brzenska of the Stationary Guard's Elite Force, but he is Captain Levi, humanity's proclaimed strongest soldier, and he knows better than anyone how sometimes one needs a moment to breathe and be human.

"You have a squad too," she whispers against his shirt. "If you lost them…"

He can't—_won't_—imagine that. Strong, silent Gunter; quick, reliable Erd; clever, cheerful Petra; brave, earnest Auruo—he handpicked them among many and they are some of the top soldiers in the entire military. They are skilled and experienced and there is no way he is going to lose them.

"I won't," he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead when she raises her eyes to his. He will never know her pain.

* * *

_A/N: I have one more after this so let me know if you're interested. I'll probably write more at some point anyway because I like this pairing a lot._


	3. iii

With all the recent events that have been taking up his attention as of late, she is the furthest thing from his mind—so when he sees her again, dressed in civilian clothing and sans glasses, hair pale and bright in the muted colors of the dark and filthy city, it takes him a moment to place her.

She glances over at him, recognition flickering in her eyes, but it is gone in a moment and then she is making her way over to him, heels clicking on the cracked pavement, and he wonders just what she is doing here and how much Pixis has to do with it.

"Captain Levi," she says, stopping before where he is seated on the bench, one arm thrown over the back of the seat. "Good to see you again."

She'll keep her secrets and he'll keep his; he knows all her hidden spots, all her physical weaknesses, every nook and cranny of her body—but there are things that are meant to stay below the skin.

So he only says, "Sit down," and shifts approximately one centimeter over to make room for her.

She sits, folding her hands on her lap, and does not say anything immediately. She does not lean against the back of the bench but he can feel her warmth against his arm anyway.

"You injured your leg," she finally says, and he rolls his eyes at her chosen topic of conversation.

"What, surprised _humanity's strongest_ did something stupid?"

"No. I'm glad you're alive."

The words are spoken matter-of-factly, but Levi thinks something nearly catches in her voice, and he wonders if she was worried when she heard all the reports coming back of the female Titan and the failed expedition, the number of casualties and the amount of shit the Scouting Legion was in. He almost wonders if she will say something akin to _I told you so_ but that's not the point here, it never has been, and he only nods once in response, and they leave it at that.

Or he thinks they do—until she adds, "I heard about your squad."

Erwin was the only other person who mentioned them to him—Mike and Hanji knew better than to try and comfort him. But Erwin is Erwin and he does what he wants, and there is nothing Levi can do about it. But before Rico can say another word, he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't."

She frowns slightly. "I lost my squad too. You know that."

He does, but it is not something he ever wants to think about in connection with his own loss. He didn't know Rico's subordinates: nameless, faceless soldiers who gave their lives in service to humanity. Gunter, Erd, Auruo, Petra—they were under his command, they were his responsibility, and he failed them.

"I know how you feel," Rico says quietly. "How do you think I felt? We were the Stationary Guard's elite, the best of the Garrison—and I was their squad leader."

He hears the hidden meaning in her words, the implications; the same thoughts eat at him, invade his mind, try to steal his sanity if he will let them—he is considered humanity's strongest soldier, but what good is that title if he cannot even protect the people he cares about?

He looks over at Rico. She is staring back at him, lips drawn into a line, her forehead faintly creased, and he would be relieved that at least she is not in the Scouting Legion and has a higher chance of survival, but lately he cannot help thinking this world is going to shit and they're all going to die anyway; he will fight until his very last breath, but having hopes for anything is pointless at this rate.

These thoughts flash through his mind in an instant, and in the depths of her eyes he can see her concern, but after one beat he looks away again, returning his gaze to the empty space in front of him in a clear dismissal of the subject.

They are not alone; there are other people in the streets and in the shops and houses behind them, but Rico takes his hand anyway, turning it over in her palms. She scoots closer to him, her thigh pressing against his, and leans forward to brush her lips against his cheek.

"It won't get better," she says, "but it will get easier."

He wants to snap back, to say that he has seen Titans far more than she has and experienced countless more deaths; he wants to say he knows the process all too well and he doesn't need her to tell him about it; but as she leans her forehead against his and curls her fingers more tightly around his hands, he can only think he won't lose her too.

* * *

_A/N: This is all the Levi/Rico I've written for now but I do want to write more sometime so let me know if anyone would be interested?_


	4. iv

_A/N: This is an utterly self-indulgent AU drabble that's all._

* * *

It's another busy night at the club, the lines outside stretching down the street, people crowding at the entrance, the dance floor already packed though it's barely 1 AM. Music pounds from the speakers in the corners and the room vibrates with each pulse of the bass. Neon lights flash overhead, spreading a kaleidoscope of colors throughout the open room, and by the bar, glasses clink and people shout to be heard over the din.

Levi has long since gotten used to the noise, considering how long he's been working in this profession, but it never fails to make him grimace anyway. He hates the overpowering scent of alcohol, the stench of unwashed bodies twisting and turning to the pounding beat, and standing guard every night in the club when the boss is around has long since stopped giving him headaches, but that doesn't mean he enjoys it any more.

Tonight is no different from any other, but it's barely started and already he is looking forward to switching shifts and going back to his room and sleeping. Well, he doesn't necessarily need to sleep right away—there are always other options available—but he is certainly looking forward to returning to his room. Anything to be away from the masses of people.

A girl who looks hardly old enough to be here (yet she towers over him in platform heels) shrieks and stumbles towards him; her friend giggles and grabs her before he can do anything more than look her way. They nearly brush him as they pass, wobbling around, clearly drunk, and he tries his best not to glare; he's supposed to be part of the furniture, unnoticeable unless someone tries to pass the door behind him—then he'll have to step out of the background.

It is a common occurrence, wasted and half-wasted and sometimes even completely sober people getting too close, but he sighs anyway because he could really do with taking his damn suit jacket off. And having a cigarette. And receiving his paycheck.

"Tired already?" a voice murmurs through his earpiece.

He does not have to glance up to know exactly where she is—on the other side of the room, standing by the door that mirrors his, everything about her sleek and dark except for the gleam of her white-blond hair. The lights always weave orange in her hair, glint purple off her glasses, and he knows if he looks, he will see her despite the distance—so he does not look.

"As if standing around this shitty place is the worst we've done all week," he murmurs back. He has long perfected the art of speaking without moving his lips, and he knows to anyone passing by, he is just another security guard on duty, watching for possible commotions and disturbances, but looking bored.

"You think so?" Rico sounds thoughtful. "I prefer the art gallery to this."

"I meant cleaning up the mess behind the museum on Wednesday. Technically Thursday; it was four in the morning."

"True." Her voice is tinny through the earpiece, but he can hear the faint teasing tone in it as she adds, "You like cleaning up messes though."

His silence is the equivalent of an eye roll, something she knows all too well, and he can practically see the smile in her eyes—Rico does not smile much with her mouth, but her eyes give her away. They shine silver-gray when she is amused, a shade not too different from his, but her irises are always so much more alive than his ever will be.

They aren't supposed to talk on the job unless it is to report suspicious activity, so they fall silent again shortly thereafter. Levi stares off into space, but his peripheral vision catches everything anyway: a dark-haired guy spills beer on his girlfriend around 2 AM; a woman with three rings on her middle right finger orders a strawberry daiquiri with vodka around 2:35; a man in a blue collared shirt and striped tie edges off the dance floor and sinks into one of the couches in the lounge area roughly twelve minutes past three.

The man is alone, and sober, and looking around the club casually now, and that's what raises a red flag to Levi. He fiddles with his earpiece under the pretense of pushing hair out of his line of vision, and says in a low voice, "Are we expecting any deliveries tonight?"

"No."

"Well then," Levi says. He continues watching the man; it's just a hunch, but the face is somewhat familiar too, and though the flashing lights help obscure details in the dim setting of the club, he has been working in far too many places like this for years that he easily spots the telltale line of a possible wire against the fabric of the blue shirt, the bump at the crease of the tie where a mic might be, and the man is wearing boots—a perfect place to slip knives or other small close-range weapons.

"Tonight might be interesting after all," he tells Rico.

"Before we reach your room, you mean?' is her response.

"Yeah," he says. In the lounge area, the man stands, and Levi puts his hand against the loose inner pocket of his jacket, feeling the reassuring weight of the gun holstered there. "It's a slight possibility."

* * *

_A/N: Basically I just wanted to write Levi and Rico working for a crime boss. The club is a cover and people underestimate them because they're short. That is literally all I wanted to write._


End file.
